Rogue Trader at Société Générale Gets Jail Term

Nicola Clark

Jérôme Kerviel, the former Société Générale trader whose rogue dealings almost brought about the French bank’s demise, was convicted of breach of trust and other crimes Tuesday and sentenced to at least three years in prison in Paris. Mr Kerviel, 33, was also ordered to pay a huge restitution, equal to the entire amount the bank lost in unwinding his trades in early 2008.

Mr Kerviel was sentenced to five years, with two suspended, and barred for life from working in financial services. Wearing a dark suit, black tie and starched white shirt, he stood impassively while the verdict was read, betraying no emotion. Mr Kerviel’s lawyer said he would appeal immediately.

The prosecutors had requested that Mr Kerviel spend at least four years behind bars. The maximum penalty possible on the charges faced by the former trader – breach of trust, forgery and unauthorised use of the bank’s computers – was five years.

Mr Kerviel acknowledged at his trial that he had falsified documents and entered fake trades to hide his activities, but he maintained that his bosses had deliberately turned a blind eye to what he was doing and had tacitly encouraged him as long as it was profitable.

Daniel Bouton, the former chief executive and chairman of the bank, has described Mr Kerviel as “a crook, a fraudster and a terrorist” who acted alone and nearly destroyed the bank.

In the aftermath of the scandal, Mr Kerviel spent five weeks in pretrial detention and became something of a French folk hero. Much was made of the fact that someone from such a modest background – his mother was a hairdresser, his late father a metal-shop teacher – could dupe so many of his bosses, many of them well-bred graduates of France’s best schools.

The Guardian, October 5, 2010 Task 9. Find special terms in the second half of the material (they are not marked). Read the piece again, find clichés and idioms in it.

Task 10. Define the syntactical structure of the headline, translate it into Russian.

Task 11. Watch Video 55 lead, transcribe it and get its major idea. You would need the following proper names: Colin Howl Castlerock, and a special term exhaust fumes.

Task 12. Watch Video 55 to the end, concentrate on its details to close the information gaps.

1) the crime was committed …

2) the two murdered were believed to be victims of …

3) actually, they were … with …

4) the motive behind Colin Howl’s action was …

5) Colin acted not alone but with …

Task 13. What accent do you hear in the video?

Task 14. Now, concentrate on the lexical and morphological analysis of the report. First, fill in the gaps below.

1. … he hid the …1-2… from this coastal community.

2. (they) died in a …1-2…

3. Neighbours believed they had …1-4…

4. Her husband had staged …1-3… before escaping.

5. Few people questioned the …1-2… until Colin Howel’s …3-8…

6. then he …1-3… in a financial …4…

7. He felt it …1-4…, contacted a Christian friend, and …5-8…

8. Howel was a cosmetic dentist of …1-2…

9. His …1-3… has gripped Northern Ireland.

10. Trevor’s Bukanan’s friends were …1… when his …2-3… became …4-6…

Task 15. Watch Video 56.1, get its idea.

What criminal offence is in the media spotlight? Who is the perpetrator?

Name all the realia in the brief.

Task 16. Watch Video 56.2 and say whether it is linked with Video 56.1.

Task 17. Fill in the gaps with special terms and idioms, analyse the syntactical structure of the sentences below (Video 56.2).

1. The former …1… …2… has become the first politician to …3… …4… and …5-8… of …9-11…

2. Lord Taylor of Warwick …1… 11,000 pounds by …2-4… between Westminster and a home in Oxford he said he owned, but in fact, never …5-6…

3. But today it was he who felt …1-5….

4. No apology, in fact, no apology at all from the first parliamentarian …1-2… …3-7… over the expenses scandal.

5. As the … said, those were journeys that didn’t happen from a home that wasn’t his.

6. As a layer and a member of the House of Lords, …1-2… would and should have been …3-6…

7. …1-2… claimed he was encouraged to …3-6… by other peers but the …7-9… said …10-11… had …12… …13-15…

8. He’s been …1-3… and will …4-5… at a later date.

Task 18. What grammatical constructions can you identify in the piece? Name them.

Task 19. Identify at least five descriptive adjectives in the report and put them down.

Task 20. Watch Video 57. Unravel its idea with 5W and H pattern.

Task 21. Watch Video 57 again and find English equivalents of the terms and group of words.

полицейский участок задушить жертву

появиться в суде следователь

расследование улики

обвинение отпущен под залог

обвиняться в убийстве наручники (надеть наручники)

предварительное судебное разбирательство / слушание

находиться на скамье подсудимых

В суде он подтвердил свое имя и фамилию.

Task 22. Watch Video 57 again and put the terms above into the context.

Task 23. Find four lexical nominative constructions in the report.

Task 24. Watch Video 58, transcribe it and make syntactical analysis of the piece. You may need to know the term propofol.

Task 25. Study the following word list.

to set out (plans) proof dog fouling

a sliding scale of … injunction “community trigger”

to rebrand to breach asset seizure

at the discretion of somebody

Task 26. Listen to Audio Track 20 and transcribe it. Check the transcript in class.

Task 27. Answer the questions.

1. What are ASBOs and what do they tackle with?

2. What are they to be replaced with? Why?

3. What are community protection orders? How are they known otherwise?

Task 28. What are grammatical features of the sentences below?

1. Sentence No 2 in the interview (We think…).

2. Sentence beginning with There’ll also be… (the report).

3. Sentence beginning with The government also… (the report).

Task 29. Listen to Audio Track 21, transcribe its lead. What is the idea of the report in general?

Task 30. Listen to Audio Track 21 and get its essence.

Task 31. Listen to the report, write down all the terms you came across while listening to the piece.

What do the following numbers stand for: 28 – 14 – 6 ?

Task 32. Listen to Audio Track 22, get its idea. You may need to know the meaning of the word stalker / night stalker.

Task 33. Transcribe the lead. Analyse the syntactical structure of sentence No 2. Answer the questions below.

1. What is the man convicted of?

2. What are his name and age? How long has he been on the loose?

Task 34. Listen to the rest of Audio Track 22. Put the following words into the context of the report. Translate the sentences you have got.

1) awful and disturbing crimes;

2) frail elderly people;

3) consistent methods;

4) undercover surveillance;

5) to be frightened, confused or ashamed.

Task 35. Name all realia in the report. Write them down. What class do they belong to?

Task 36. Close the gaps in the sentences below (Audio Track 22). Say what grammatical structures are used in them. What are the syntactical features of the sentences in question? Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. In …1-2… she described how a man …3-5… her home and raped her.

2. His methods …1-2… : during the night he …3-5… the homes of old people …6-8…, …9-11… and …12-14… before …15… the victim and …16… …17-18… on their face, demanding cash and sometimes – sex.

3. Police …1… they can …2… Grant to …3… 203 other offences on their files but they admit that …4-5… of his elderly victims …6-7…, …8-10… to even report their attacks, …11-12… may have been far higher.

Task 37. Watch Video 59. What new information does it carry compared with Audio Track 22? Put it in separate sentences below.

1. …

2. …

N. …